


Voice

by fuckthenaysayers



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Deaf, Deaf Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckthenaysayers/pseuds/fuckthenaysayers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael Jones was deaf. But that was okay. He’d been deaf since he was around 10, as a result of a bad illness, but it was okay. He spoke well enough that he could still talk with people, and learned to read lips and even learned sign language when he started middle school, so it was okay. Then he went to high school, and met Gavin. Things weren’t okay anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Voice

Michael Jones was deaf. But that was okay. He’d been deaf since he was around 10, as a result of a bad illness, but it was okay. He spoke well enough that he could still talk with people, and learned to read lips and even learned sign language when he started middle school, so it was okay. Then he went to high school, and met Gavin. Things weren’t okay anymore.

For years Michael had been alright with not hearing, sure he missed a lot of things, but he tried not to dwell on it. But his views started to change when Gavin transferred to his school, and lately all Michael could think about was what the boy’s voice sounded like. He could tell from reading his lips that he talked oddly, and it made sense when he found out he’d moved here from England. Gavin seemed utterly fascinated with him, and that probably didn’t help settle Michael’s crush any. He was the first deaf person Gavin ever met, and the boy found that interesting enough to start up a friendship.

Their closeness only grew from there, and they started dating only a few months later, making Michael utterly happy. But things were still not quite okay, because now he wanted to hear Gavin even more. To hear him say his name, to hear say I love you and goodnight and hello, to hear him laugh and cry and make every dumb sound he was sure the man made.

His feelings came to a head one night during dinner, when his mother asked him how he was, as he clearly looked less-than-alright. He took a moment before responding. “I wish I could hear again.” He mumbled, and though he couldn’t hear it, he saw his mother start to cry as she got up to hug him. Things were as far from okay as they could be.

The next day, when Gavin came over, he could clearly see Michael’s mom was upset. As he headed up to Michael’s room, he saw the boy laying on his bed, reading a book. He leaned in and pulled the book away, kissing him lightly. Michael smiled, sitting up when Gavin pulled away. “Hey Michael. Do you know why your mum is upset downstairs?” Michael frowned as he read Gavin’s lips, looking away. “It’s my fault. I… I told her I wished I could hear again.”

Gavin swallowed, heart aching as he looked at Michael. He nudged him lightly so the boy would look at him. “I thought you were alright with, you know. Why do you suddenly want your hearing back?” Michael’s eyes teared up a little and he pulled off his glasses, rubbing them before the tears could fall. “Because I wanna hear you! I want to hear you say my name, I wanna hear you say you love me and I wanna hear the stupid doofy accent you clearly have. It’s not fair that I can’t hear the person I love, it’s not fair!”

Gavin pulled him in as Michael broke down in his arms, letting the other teen cry out his frustrations in his chest. He stayed over that night, Michael’s mother glad to have him spend the night, thankful that Michael had someone who loved him as sweetly as Gavin did. When the morning came, everyone felt a little better, and they had breakfast together before Gavin and Michael shuffled off to school.

——  
It was a few months later when Gavin would approach the subject Michael had spent a night crying about again. He looked excited and frantic as he ran up to Michael, a paper scrunched up in his hand and babbling at a mile a minute. “Slow down, asshole, I can’t read that fast.” Michael grumbled, and the other shut up, smiling apologetically.

“Have you heard of cochlear implants, Michael?” The boy scrunched his face in confusion, shaking his head. Gavin handed him the paper in his hand and Michael read it. It was mostly sciency words he didn’t understand but when he reread it he started to get the jist. It was a paper about a new implant that could possibly restore someone’s hearing, and it made Michael’s heart race. “Gavin…” He murmured, and the boy started talking quickly again.

“I did some research and there’s a center in Princeton that are looking for people to test out the implants! I-I mean I know it’s not definite that you’ll be chosen but I thought you’d wanna know and-” Gavin couldn’t finish his thought because suddenly Michael’s lips were on his and they were kissing in the school hallway. No one bothered them, because no one really cared enough to, so they kept on kissing until Michael had to catch his breath.

——-

It would be almost a year before Michael made any more progress with hearing. He didn’t get anything back from the center Gavin found until a few months later, and they said he was the perfect type of candidate they were looking for. Of course there was plenty of paperwork and legalities to sort through, but after about 10 months, Michael would be getting his implant. Just one to start, but if it was successful he could get the second.

It was June when he went in for the surgery, and Gavin was by his side as long as he could. When the surgery was done Michael whined and complained about the fact they shaved a part of his hair, but Gavin knew he was just running his mouth because he was nervous. Michael did a few tests on his own, simple hearing tests like he used to do in elementary school, and everything seemed fine. A couple weeks passed before it was time for Michael to test it fully, and Gavin and Michael’s mother were waiting outside for him.

A nurse came out and told them one person could come in to speak to Michael at a time, and they looked at each other. “You go sweetie, he’s heard my voice before.” Gavin looked at the older woman for a moment before nodding, too excited to even pretend to suggest she do it. He hopped up and followed the nurse, who led him to the room where Michael was. The boy was sitting in front of one of his doctors, who was using his computer to tinker with the implants volume and measure how Michael was doing.

When the doctor noticed Gavin, he gestured for the boy to get close, and he did, standing right behind Michael’s left side and sitting down on a stool. Michael hadn’t noticed him yet, still running through the last of his tests. When the doctor motioned at Gavin, he finally spoke up. “Can you hear me?” He asked in a loud clear voice. Michael’s eyes went wide, tearing up as he turned around and realized that was Gavin’s voice.

“Hi Michael. I love you.” Michael brought a hand to his mouth, trying to hold back the happy sobs that wanted to escape as Gavin pulled him close and held him. “Hi Gavin.” He whispered between whimpers, and when he calmed down enough they talked. They talked as long as they could, about everything and nothing, until their time was up and the appointment was over, and Michael had to take off the earpiece that connected to his implant. In just a week he’d be able to take it home and hear Gavin’s voice but for now that was more than enough.


End file.
